Thank you for the links and for helpful input. I have read a bunch of articles online today about SSRS and reportviewer control. So I am starting to get my mind wrapped around these new concepts. And especially - hopefully -becoming comfortable working with visual tools in VS 2005.

>Ina a sense, it is. SSRS is Sql Server Reporting Services. The report viewer control is a control in Visual Studio to allow you to design and run sql server reports locally or remotely on a server. It doesn't have all of the features of SSRS, but works very simarily. See these for some help and more information (the first link is a great starter):
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>http://www.gotreportviewer.com/
>http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms345248.aspx
>http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms251671(VS.80).aspx
>
>
>>I don't know if using ReportViewer is the same as SSRS. But so far, after trying ReportViewer for only a couple of hours, I find using it easier than Crystal. I am sure that Crystal has some very powerful features; I was only judging it based on my personal experience as far as "ease of use." I will keep learning. Thank you for your input.
>>
>>>I did some heavy testing and comparisons between crystal reports and SSRS (local and remote). I sent the comparison chart out to a few here. It probably needs to be updated already (I did this last year). In the end we went with SSRS but Crystal excelled in some areas over SSRS. I disagree with your statement. It is a great reporting tool. The VS2010 version of SSRS local reportviewer control is supposed to cover the issues I had with it (square rectangle shapes and html rendering). In the end the managed code flexibility of SSRS won out over Crystal's com. Also, we work with entity classes and SSRS excels at that (for design-time and runtime). We run external code in external classes as well and with crystal if you want to run external code it can be done, but it is done via com.
>>>
>>>>>>The discussion started with Marcia stating that coding .NET is "easy". Creating reports is part of coding. And we already agree that it ain't so <g>. And how come you didn't tell me that Crystal sucks before I invested the past 3 weeks in learning how to use it? <g>
>>>>>
>>>>>Dmitry,
>>>>>
>>>>>FWIW, I've been using crystal reports for over a decade and getting it to read the data is a bit more complicated, about everything else is as straightforward as VFP IMHO. Esppecially linking subreports, complicated summary operations and dynamic grouping. I LOVE the product. Yes it has some learning curve and yes it has some limitations, but OTOH it is powerfull as well.
>>>>>
>>>>>I've build a framework arround it and creating a crystal report is now as simple as VFP.
>>>>>
>>>>>Walter,
>>>>
>>>>I have no doubts that Crystal is a powerful tool; they would not be used as much as they are if not for that. I just find, so far, that using Crystal with .NET application requires a lot of jumping through hoops. I am guessing that you are using Crystal with VFP application; therefore - I am guessing - you are binding your report(s) to a VFP cursor. In .NET world you have to create a typed dataset, which is not a rocket science but not a trivial task.
>>>>
>>>>I will still try to finish my Crystal report book and at the same time work with ReportViewer. Or maybe I will try another reporting tool for .NET application. I am sure in the end I will find something. Or I will go back to VFP <g>.